The Blame

[AUght2win 6,816]

Interesting because it seems to be all over the place. Some say total team loss. Some say players. Some say Gus. Some (few) even say the defensive lapses that resulted in big plays.

I say it's a mixed bag, but it's mostly on offensive execution, and Gus to some degree.

Gus is asking too much of a true freshman, much like we saw him do with Anders Carlson last season. Gus does not remotely view Bo as a freshman, which is good in some ways but bad in others. He also did a bad job getting the ball to his playmakers. As said in another thread, Gus calls plays, he doesn't call plays for his best players.

But we had offensive opportunities. Lot of 3rd and shorts. And the wide open miss (catch, but should have been a walk in TD) to Seth Williams was THE game changer. That's not on Gus. I think Gus did enough to put his guys in a position to win. But lots of little miscues. And big ones by Bo. Tough loss. 

 

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

1 minute ago, AUght2win said:

Interesting because it seems to be all over the place. Some say total team loss. Some say players. Some say Gus. Some (few) even say the defensive lapses that resulted in big plays.

I say it's a mixed bag, but it's mostly on offensive execution, and Gus to some degree.

Gus is asking too much of a true freshman, much like we saw him do with Anders Carlson last season. Gus does not remotely view Bo as a freshman, which is good in some ways but bad in others. He also did a bad job getting the ball to his playmakers. As said in another thread, Gus calls plays, he doesn't call plays for his best players.

But we had offensive opportunities. Lot of 3rd and shorts. And the wide open miss (catch, but should have been a walk in TD) to Seth Williams was THE game changer. That's not on Gus. I think Gus did enough to put his guys in a position to win. But lots of little miscues. And big ones by Bo. Tough loss. 

 

It’s Gus’s fault for failing to correct the problem. He could have done that by at least sitting Bo a series or to. Who knows Joey might have kick started the running game but even if he didn’t it might have given Bo a chance to catch his breath and catch up

to the moment. Simply put Gus failed Bo big time and by doing so he failed the team. No more chances. Gus needs to be relieved and soon. If not we most likely lose 3 to 5 more games this year.

[AUght2win 6,816]

6 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

It’s Gus’s fault for failing to correct the problem. He could have done that by at least sitting Bo a series or to. Who knows Joey might have kick started the running game but even if he didn’t it might have given Bo a chance to catch his breath and catch up

to the moment. Simply put Gus failed Bo big time and by doing so he failed the team. No more chances. Gus needs to be relieved and soon. If not we most likely lose 3 to 5 more games this year.

Well we can't fire Gus right now. Nor should we. But if this team shows up then we'll lose the big 3 down the stretch, which will likely be Gus' end. 

Nobody can convince me that Gus survives an 8-4 season. 

[PUB78 1,354]

Auburn didn’t get $6.7 million worth of coaching or play calling from Gus tonight. We are 5-1, so let’s see how Gus and the team responds for the rest of the season, especially against LSU, UGA and UA.

[around4ever 4,139]

8-4 with the losses being to Top 10 teams will not get him fired.  If he wins one of those remaining three Top 10 games he will get an extension.  If he wins two of them, he'll get another nice raise.  We are Auburn. 

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

I would put the defense as 100th in our list of worries.  That 4th quarter 88-yarder was a back-breaker but I watched those guys make the most of non-ideal situations (interceptions, muffed punts, etc) all night and still give the offense plenty of chances to flip the script.

From my point of view, here we are again.  Gus' fans (apologists, defenders, whatever your preferred term) saying you are crazy to fault him after close victories and have no right to fault him after a road top-10 loss.  This becomes a tiring "heads we win/tails you lose" method of discussing real problems.  In my point of view, Auburn has to look at it from a strict return on investment point. You're paying a guy top 5 in the NATION money to give you top 25 results. 

Those frustrated with Gus think that you can pay a lot less than 7 mil a year to get the same results.  I have been in that boat since the unreasonable extension.  Now, it's not Gus' fault he was negotiating with idiots who gave him the moon, but the contract is what it is. Being critical of the man’s performance vs his compensation isn’t a personal attack on the man or his accomplishments.  At some point there just comes a time when the return on investment does not meet the standards of the performance. He seems like a great guy who loves his family, team, community, God, puppies, etc, but at the end of the day do the results warrant the contract is the only question that should be asked. If you think so, by all means continue to defend the man. But if not, the lines between “Gus Malzahn is an honorable man, good football coach, and great person” are not mutually exclusive with “Auburn should look elsewhere for a head football coach”  and it's beyond tiring to be told how to act when Auburn underperforms their ability by the "War Eagle, anyway" crowd.

[Dan-0 479]

The blame is always on the coaching staff, starting at the top with Gus and trickling down. As it should be. Because they get paid to recruit, coach, and field a quality football team. 

[PUB78 1,354]

Just now, around4ever said:

8-4 with the losses being to Top 10 teams will not get him fired.  If he wins one of those remains three Top 10 games he will get an extension.  If he wins two of them, he'll get another nice raise.  We are Auburn. 

I don’t know, if he goes 8-4 but loses to the 3 top teams we still have to play, it should cost him his job. That would put him 2-5 against LSU and UA and 2-6 against UGA. When do we expect him to compete with these teams? If not this year, it going to be even tougher next year with UGA and UA on the road and a whole new OL and probably 3 out of 4 new DL starters.

[AU64 10,122]

1 minute ago, SCTiger2011 said:

think that you can pay a lot less than 7 mil a year to get the same results.

I keep hearing that but have yet to see a valid candidate.      For the past three years, we've seen a raft of hot coaches that one poster or another was just sure could be the answer to AU coaching problems.....and what's the result?    Most of them are struggling to hold their jobs and I'm not sure that any of them are in the top 25.  

I mean, are you suggesting that if we could get another coach for $3M, it would  not matter how many games he could win against Nick and Kirby and the rest of the SEC?  

[ScottsboroAuburnFan 462]

Gus isn't anymore to blame for the loss than Nix is... he constantly made bad decision after bad decision. The Oline made matters worse... there was WR open all night. He missed them or threw to wrong guy. Gus may have made some bad calls but Nix made twice as many bad decisions as Gus made bad calls.

[ChltteTiger 649]

20 minutes ago, Eagle Eye 7 said:

It’s Gus’s fault for failing to correct the problem. He could have done that by at least sitting Bo a series or to. Who knows Joey might have kick started the running game but even if he didn’t it might have given Bo a chance to catch his breath and catch up

to the moment. Simply put Gus failed Bo big time and by doing so he failed the team. No more chances. Gus needs to be relieved and soon. If not we most likely lose 3 to 5 more games this year.

We are gonna lose to the remaining big 3 even if Gus is removed.

[AUght2win 6,816]

6 minutes ago, around4ever said:

8-4 with the losses being to Top 10 teams will not get him fired.  If he wins one of those remains three Top 10 games he will get an extension.  If he wins two of them, he'll get another nice raise.  We are Auburn. 

We ARE Auburn. And losing to UGA, Bama, and LSU this year would make us a combined 6-16 against our 3 biggest rivals under Gus. He won't survive that. 

[AuburnEagle79 2,163]

There's a lot of blame to pass around. Play calling offensively was bad for 3 quarters. We got rolling in the 4th when we were running the ball well, but then Bo played like a freshman. We couldn't stop a slant to save our lives. 

We are better than them, which makes it hurt worse. I'll refrain from calling for his head until I see how we do against the big boys. We will mop up Mississippi, Arky, and the gimme game. Have to win 1 of the 3, and LSU ain't gonna be one of them. 

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

3 minutes ago, PUB78 said:

I don’t know, if he goes 8-4 but loses to the 3 top teams we still have to play, it should cost him his job. That would put him 2-5 against LSU and UA and 2-6 against UGA. When do we expect him to compete with these teams? If not this year, it going to be even tougher next year with UGA and UA on the road and a whole new OL and probably 3 out of 4 new DL starters.

Thing is man, a large portion of our fanbase does not care. They will make excuses about how hard the SEC is, the cheating bammers, etc. Its always an excuse. 7 years in and we know what we got, But they don’t care. They’re happy with 8-4.

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

5 minutes ago, AU64 said:

I keep hearing that but have yet to see a valid candidate.      For the past three years, we've seen a raft of hot coaches that one poster or another was just sure could be the answer to AU coaching problems.....and what's the result?    Most of them are struggling to hold their jobs and I'm not sure that any of them are in the top 25.  

I mean, are you suggesting that if we could get another coach for $3M, it would  not matter how many games he could win against Nick and Kirby and the rest of the SEC?  

Bluntly, 64, for me, the answer is a no-brainer yes.  I would be more patient with a 3 million dollar coach going 8-4 and attempting to build a program for a few years than a 7 million dollar coach going 8-4.

I am well aware the "next one" might not be an answer and might even be a step back (see Arkansas and other schools who appear to be following this road).  In my opinion, that risk is getting close to being worth taking.

[AURealist 2,185]

Bo reached the point of being overwhelmed, where he felt solely responsible for the game, and it shut his thought processes down.  Every play became an act of desperation.  Nothing good was going to happen after that.  Gus needed to head that off by pulling him for a few series and settling him down.  

 

 

[ChltteTiger 649]

Wow UT is getting smoked by the leg-humpers. Can Pruitt survive with Bama coming in 2 weeks?

[around4ever 4,139]

1 minute ago, AUght2win said:

We ARE Auburn. And losing to UGA, Bama, and LSU this year would make us a combined 6-16 against our 3 biggest rivals under Gus. He won't survive that. 

I don't see it happening.  I do not want to lose any of those games and I hope the "changed" Gus can come back and coaches his a-- off in those games.  Or, if 8-4 will get him fired... maybe we should be looking at the big picture. 

[ChltteTiger 649]

3 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

There's a lot of blame to pass around. Play calling offensively was bad for 3 quarters. We got rolling in the 4th when we were running the ball well, but then Bo played like a freshman. We couldn't stop a slant to save our lives. 

We are better than them, which makes it hurt worse. I'll refrain from calling for his head until I see how we do against the big boys. We will mop up Mississippi, Arky, and the gimme game. Have to win 1 of the 3, and LSU ain't gonna be one of them. 

Unless there are massive injuries on UGA/Bama squads they will both name the score against us. Its gonna be bad!

[PUB78 1,354]

4 minutes ago, nixtosanders94 said:

Thing is man, a large portion of our fanbase does not care. They will make excuses about how hard the SEC is, the cheating bammers, etc. Its always an excuse. 7 years in and we know what we got, But they don’t care. They’re happy with 8-4.

I bet you and I along with the vast majority of the folks on this board are not happy with 8-5 seasons. Take away the 3 cupcake games on the schedule each year, puts Gus at a .500 coach.

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

2 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

We ARE Auburn. And losing to UGA, Bama, and LSU this year would make us a combined 6-16 against our 3 biggest rivals under Gus. He won't survive that. 

Hey man, first of all, understand Im in no way trying to start anything with you. I agree with your sentiment but you have to start wondering if we’ve just reached a point where so much of our fans and alumni have accepted that until Saban leaves and/or Kirby slows down, we just won’t compete regularly. Now, I agree that 6-16 SHOULD be unacceptable but look at how many AU fans seemingly don’t care as long as we win 7 or 8 and go to a bowl. It just makes me wonder where we are as a program. We’ve had two tastes of the good life recently in ‘10 and ‘13 but those feel like aberrations and not the norm.

[Dan-0 479]

The SEC is down overall and has been for a few years now. Gus has benefited from that. Look at our Gus´ record against LSU, GA, and AL. Now think what it would be if Arkansas, MS State, Ole Miss, and aTm were as good as they have been in previous years. We are consistently stuck in the middle of the SEC and show no signs of being able to break through to the top as GA & LSU seem to have done..

[nixtosanders94 2,180]

4 minutes ago, SCTiger2011 said:

Bluntly, 64, for me, the answer is a no-brainer yes.  I would be more patient with a 3 million dollar coach going 8-4 and attempting to build a program for a few years than a 7 million dollar coach going 8-4.

I am well aware the "next one" might not be an answer and might even be a step back (see Arkansas and other schools who appear to be following this road).  In my opinion, that risk is getting close to being worth taking.

He’s been beating that dead stupid horse for a while now. We should keep an average coach no matter what because there is risk involved in hiring a new coach, Because, you know, no school EVER improved by doing that...🤦‍♂️

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

I’m not going to give up hope just yet. We have 3 weeks to prepare for LSU. In 2017 we were all ready to throw Gus out on the street and by the end of the regular season we were a playoff contender. The game is damn sure not on the defense. They did. All you could ask of them. I personally don’t even think the play calling was that bad. Our Oline is just downy soft and Bo crumbled when the moment got too big. Good news is Fl has the worst matchup defense we will play. 

[amsterjam 107]

4 minutes ago, nixtosanders94 said:

Hey man, first of all, understand Im in no way trying to start anything with you. I agree with your sentiment but you have to start wondering if we’ve just reached a point where so much of our fans and alumni have accepted that until Saban leaves and/or Kirby slows down, we just won’t compete regularly. Now, I agree that 6-16 SHOULD be unacceptable but look at how many AU fans seemingly don’t care as long as we win 7 or 8 and go to a bowl. It just makes me wonder where we are as a program. We’ve had two tastes of the good life recently in ‘10 and ‘13 but those feel like aberrations and not the norm.

You don't pay someone 7mil a year for that though do you?